Farming for the next generation
5 January 2018

Secretary of State Michael Gove sets out his vision on the future of our farming industry at the Oxford Farming Conference 2018 (via GOV.UK)

For anyone wondering what the focus of this year’s Oxford Farming Conference might be, it was The Archers provided an answer just before Christmas.

Brian Aldridge asked his step–son, Adam, whether he might be
attending the conference. Adam replied wearily. ‘I think I’ll give it a
miss this year. It’s probably going to be all about Brexit. I get
enough of that at home.’

I know how he feels.

I suspect everyone in this room knows how he feels.

And, of course, I’ll say something in a moment about the specific
opportunities and challenges for agriculture on leaving the European
Union.

But if we’re going to make the most of those opportunities and
overcome those challenges it’s critical that we recognise that there is
much, much, more that is changing in our world than our relationship
with the EU.

As we saw in the presentation at the beginning of this session, the
world’s population is growing at an unprecedented rate, with a worldwide
migration from rural areas to cities and a growth in the global middle
class which is driving demand for more, and better quality, food.